John Stevens

Thanks for the reply. Are these first had experiences with the wood? I've been cutting and sanding and it seems to be going ok. Has anyone used the wood for trim where the weather is hitting it? Just wondering how it will hold up. I noticed the grain to be a little deeper than teak. TIA, John

I picked up some Iroko wood for trim on my sailboat the other day. It seems to look and feel like teak. I'm planning on using it for trim on my sailboat. Is there any downside to using this wood? Looking forward to the opinions of this board! TIA, John Stevens

I have a chance to buy some maple at a good price. Can I use that for the frames of my Minuet instead of douglas fir? TIA, John

I have finished glassing the floor of my fir plywood pram. It looks nice, first coat of paint is on. But... man was it a lot of work. My question is: Can I glass the plywood before I bend it? I'm going to be building a Minuet and thought it might be easier to glass it before it goes on, just the inside. Will epoxy/glass bend? TIA, John

I bought a stripper and scrapped it down pretty good. Then hit it with a 60 grit paper. I'm down to wood now. I put a layer of epoxy on 2 days ago, then sanded and put the glass on yesterday. It looks good, just need to paint now after sanding that is. Thanks, John Stevens

Thanks Charlie.

I feel funny asking but have to know the answer. If I'm just using glass to cover the inside of my pram to keep it from checking does it have to be glass? Can I epoxy any kind of material, like fabric? Could I go to joanne Fabrics and grab a piece of silk? The glass is not for strenght, the outside is already glassed. It's just to keep the wood from checking on the inside. TIA, John

Thanks for the answer CJ, although it wasn't the one I was hoping for :cry: John

My pram (built 2 years ago) has had some checking problems where I didn't put fiberglass. I'm starting to sand and I'm going to glass, I think. Do I have to get "all" the paint off. I'm using 80 grit with an orbitting sander and I'm having a hard time getting to the bear wood. 1.Can I glass over this or will it pull away from the paint eventually? 2. Can I epoxy at this point and forget about glass? How long will it hold up now that I took off the high spots? None of the above? What would you guys do next? TIA, John

I'm building the Minuet 15 and thougtht I would paint it before flipping it over. However, after thinking about the deck/hull connection and the epoxy and fairing I'll do I thought maybe I should wait until the outside of the boat is together. Is there a "best way" to do this? TIA, John

Thanks for the reply PAR. Looks like the effort to make the sail changes might be more work than the bimini will be worth. John

Here is the picture of my setup. I think I need to make the dolly wider. John

I don't have roof racks on my Honda. I built a little dolly that has carpet on it. I slide the dolly onto the roof of the car. The dolly just reaches the end of the boat sides so there is no room to attach the mast. Maybe I should redesign the dolly. Thanks, John Stevens

The mast is around 14 feet. It's a cat rig with no stays. The sail is a sock type. I drive a Honda Accord with the boat on top of the car and I have been tying a line around the mirror and on hanging out the back door. I slide the mast through the lines and secure it with bungie. Is there a better way to attach it to the car? I'd really like to have it in two parts. I saw a guy with an aluminum mast that came apart and was wondering how to do it with the carbon fiber. John

I have an 8 foot pram I built a few years ago. A friend gave me a carbon mast off of his wind surfer that fits great but is hard to travel with. Is there a way of cutting it in half for travel. I was thinking of cutting a piece of wood to put inside it at the cut and snug it back together when I arrive at the water. Will it stay together while sailing? Is there a better way to do it? TIA, John Stevens

PAR, Thanks for the detailed drawings. I understand your explanation but not how you came to it. I guess that's why you design boats and I just build and sail them. A few more questions for you: You said the Minuet was not a fast boat. Would a larger roach on the main make it any faster or just unstable? Is it the hull shape that slows it down? As you can tell I know little about design but really enjoy learning about what makes sailboats do what they do. Here's a shot of the model I'm building of the Minuet at 15 % the size of the original. TIA, John Stevens

Thanks for the comments. I'm a long way away from building right now. I'm just building a scaled down version first. Thanks for offer the email help PAR, I'll be contacting you in the future. Jeff- I'm not sure that a bimini would be a problem with wind, it's relative in size to the boat which is the real problem. BTW, although I've been in Florida for a long time, I grew up in Whitman. John

I'm building a Minuet 15. I'd like to add a bimini but with the close quarters I was thinking shortening the boom and adding a mizzen might make it easier to have a bimini. Any ideas on how I would change the sq. footage of the sail plan? Would I just add the sq ft. off the mizzen to what I took away from the main? Is there a formula to figure this out? I'm in the process of building a scale down version to get the idea of building the boat. TIA, John

Again, thanks for the advise and the links. I started pricing the plywood already. There seems to be a difference in the Meranti 6566 and the 1088. Is the 1088 that much better? As I said I built the pram of fir. The plywood part has checked but the solid fir has not. It the checking only a problem in plywood laminate? I was planning on using DF for the frame work, chines and such. TIA, John

The Minuet is built from frames not stitch and glue. So... Would that make a difference in my selection of plywood? TIA, John

I've been checking prices of plywoods. I used fir on my pram but got some checking where I didn't glass. I'd like to go with something different. Can anyone give me some insight into the different plywoods? I've seen Okoume, Meranti 1088 and 6566. There is a good difference in price. What it the difference in the wood. I'm thinking of "not" glassing the boat, just a few coats of epoxy. TIA, John

Thank for the all the thoughtful answers. I did talk to the designer and he said they don't advise changing the but changes in the cabin are fine. I'm sure when I start building it I'll have a million questions. Thanks, John

Yes it's the Minuet by Glen L. Reasons: I currently own a Precision 18. It's a nice boat but the setup is just a little more than I want for a daysail. I overnight a few times a year in it and it does the job but I'd like something bigger for that in the future. I built an 8 foot pram two years ago and loved building it. It also is a nice boat but too small for my wife and I to play around in, really good for one person. So in the long run I'll be buying something in the 22-25 range but would like a small boat for daysailing more than just one person. I'd also like to be able to spend the night once in a while and get out of a surprise rain here in FL. The Minuet fits the bill but if it were 2 feet smaller and lighter it would be even better and easier to set up. So again... just wondering if shrinking it down a few feet keeping everything to scale would change the the relationship between the balance of the boat. TIA, John Stevens

Hi, I'm going to be building a Minuet 15 foot. This would be the "perfect" boat for me if it was around 13 feet. I would think that I could scale everything down to 13 feet. If I change the mast and keel location in the same scale wouldn't it stay relative and still work well? Any thoughts? TIA, John

I did see the write up in Wooden Boat. I met the guy that makes them and that is where I got the idea for this one. The rudder was built with the wing already attached. I added it to make up for part I cut off so that it wouldn't be longer than the keel. Are you saying the wing could be the cause? I built a similar wing rudder for my Precision 18 and it works better and smoother than the original. I was surprised to see this one vibrate more than the original in the O'day. John